"Phisherman" wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:
"Phisherman" wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:
"Phisherman" wrote:

My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally falling
apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a new walk
behind spreader that will last a few years and better quality. The
Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess that is what
sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store. My local choices
are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have comments on this one
for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303 (sale
$118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

How many years did your $40 spreader last?

I used it 4 or 5 times.

Should have lasted a lot longer than that with no care... what
specifically
became damaged.


The plastic parts failed, feed locking mechanism, cracks around the
hopper rivets. More importantly, it is not broadcasting product
evenly (drop spreaders are worse on sloped lawn). Not damaged, but
the wheels are just too small, the spreader itself has trouble holding
a single 40# bag of pellitized lime. Turns a 30 minute job into an
hour. A larger swath would be better. Have not found other spreaders
as shown in the link, and would appreciate feedback on that one.

An acre is kind of borderline between using a push spreader or towing one
behind a garden tractor, I'd opt for towing, I wouldn't want to spend all my
spare time pushing a spreader, or even a lawnmower, especially not on
slopped land. Now that I've thought about it, and since your land is
slopped, you'd be better off with a commercial spreader that's towed. I'd
think a $40 spreader is not appropriate for an acre... and with an acre you
really need a garden tractor anyway.

That's odd that the plastic would fail, usually it's the metal parts that
corrode from contact with fertilizers. But it's very possible it was a bad
batch of plastic or the molding machines were set incorrectly for that lot.
Obviously if you used it 4-5 times you only had the spreader a very short
time, should still be under warranty, and Home Depot/Lowes are very good
about exchanges/refunds, especially with items costing relatively little,
and most especially with national brand items (they have agreements to make
exchanges/refunds no questions asked), they don't even require a receipt for
any items they sell... I'd have brought it back at the first sign of
failure... you can still bring it back. To see the different spreaders go
to scotts.com and search spreaders... if it barely holds 40lbs of
pelletized lime yours must be one of the low capacity models, for an acre
I'd opt for the largest capacity Scotts spreader. I've found that drop
spreaders are more apt to corrode as they contain more metal parts. And
drop spreaders really don't work well on large lawns, they tend to
"stripe"... drop spreaders are intended for very small lawns with narrow
convoluted areas, especially for curbside lawn strips so that one doesn't
wste chemical by treating walk/roadways... with drop spreaders it's best to
cut the application amount to half (or less) and two days later make a
second application, crosswise to the first whee possible. When I treated my
small lawn with the broadcast spreader I cut the application way down too
and a few days later made a second pass crosswise... I always made the total
application amount less by about 1/3 of the recommended amount... multiple
light applicationss work better than one heavy application. Of course then
I was only treating about 1/4 acre so I didn't mind the extra work. Also
the commercial spreader wheels are much larger, and usually pneumatic, so
they roll effortlessly... with homeowner models with small wheels the job
goes much easier if you only fill the hopper half way (for less weight), and
be sure the lawn is freshly mowed, it's more easily traversed with short
grass... it's silly to treat a lawn and then mow it the next day anyway, but
I've seen people do that very often.

Check out the spreaders here, they have a large collection, read the owner's
comments:
http://www.northerntool.com

I've always been very pleased with Agrifab products:
http://www.agri-fab.com/type/spreaders.aspx